


My Heart Is Broken

by Anonymous



Category: Captain America (Movies), Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Drama, Friendship, Love, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2017-07-03
Packaged: 2018-11-22 15:43:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11383263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Tony is tired of being mistreated and ignored by his fellow Avengers. Will they ever stop tormenting him or is he doomed to be an outcast within a group of people who were supposed to be his friends?





	1. Chapter 1

Tony was tired of it all. No matter how hard he tried to fix the world and his own mistakes, Steve and the others constantly put him down. His world was dark now as he suffered from his crippling PTSD and anxiety in silence. No one cared. Steve only cared about Bucky nowadays. Sam, Natasha, Bruce, Thor, Wanda, Scott, Clint…they were just as nasty to him as Steve, constantly blaming him for everything. 

One night, Tony’s nightmares were so crippling that he had to call Steve. But, Steve just told him to stop being a selfish whiner before hanging up the phone, leaving Tony to cry alone in his room, drowning in his sorrows. Tony sobbed as he looked at the empty half of the bad next to him. Pepper. If only she was here to hold him. If only she could see his pain and comfort him in these dark times. 

For many months, Tony had no one. But then, Peter Quill visited Avengers Tower with a young man and introduced him to Tony.

“Hello, Tony! Long time, no see,” Peter said. “This is Anakin Skywalker. Nova Corps and the Jedi Council met to discuss your current affairs. They feel that it’s best if a Jedi is assigned to help you with your daily tasks since the Avengers are being so rude lately.”

Tony’s heart swelled with happiness. Finally, someone cared about him. He shook hands with Anakin and Peter Quill said farewell, went outside, got into his spaceship again, and took off for another exciting adventure in outer space. 

Tony showed Anakin around his penthouse and the Avengers Tower. 

“It’s so beautiful!” Anakin said. He turned to Tony, his blue eyes sparkling with kindness. “I’m so sorry they don’t appreciate you, Tony.” 

Tony’s eyes filled with tears and he quickly wiped them away. “They just…don’t understand. I need someone to talk to and Steve and them ignore me. They think I’m a bad person…EVIL even. But, I was only trying to help. I didn’t know what Ultron would do. But, I tried so hard to fix my mistakes and no matter how much effort I put into rebuilding and apologizing, they still treat me like an outcast.”

Anakin put his arm around Tony. “I’m so sorry, Tony. Your friends shouldn’t be mean to you like this.”

Tony took a shuddering breath and nodded. “And worse…my nightmares. I relive my parents’ deaths in my mind over and over again.” 

Anakin pulled back from Tony, his face filled with horror and sorrow. Tears streamed down his cheeks. “Oh no, Tony. That’s so awful! No one should have to watch their parents die.”

Tony continued, “And even worse, Bucky Barnes did it. Steve’s best friend strangled my mother…and…and Steve didn’t tell me. He kept it a secret.”

“Oh, how terrible! How could he do that to you?” Anakin asked, horrified. He put a hand to his heart. “This hurts my soul, Tony. I can’t imagine what it must’ve been like to watch someone you thought you trusted strangle your mother to death. Your own mother! And your best friend didn’t tell you?”

Tony shook his head. “You have no idea. It just hurts so much, Anakin. The pain, the sadness, the anger…”

“It’s probably eating you alive,” Anakin said, reaching out a mechanical hand and running his steel fingers through Tony’s soft, dark locks. “I’m so sorry. You’re a good man, Tony. The philanthropy you do is incredible. You always care about others so much and you want to make the world a better place. You’re a true empath. Always selfless and loving. You care about your friends.”

Tony smiled. “I try. I just wish they could see it.” 

“We’ll make them see it,” Anakin said. “Together!” 

***

That afternoon, Tony held a small lunch party at Avengers Tower. Steve, Bucky, Thor, Clint, Natasha, Scott, and Peter (Parker) showed up. Rhodey cooked them a delicious pasta dish. 

As they sat down to eat, Anakin turned to Steve. “Captain America, I think you need to be nicer to Tony. He’s been trying hard.”

“Tony is a freak and a loser,” Steve said. 

“No! He’s a good man!” Anakin said. 

“All he cares about is himself and his money. He shouldn’t even be an Avenger,” Steve said. The others nodded in agreement. 

Suddenly, Steve grabbed at his throat as Anakin raised his hand. He gasped for breath as the others screamed in terror. 

“Be nice to Tony!” Anakin said, sobbing and choking through his own tears. The way they treated Tony was just so upsetting. 

Steve threw his shield at Tony, breaking his nose. That’s when Tony jumped into the Iron Man suit and punched Steve. Clint grabbed his arrows and started firing them and Bucky and Natasha did martial arts. 

“You’ll never stop me, Iron Man! You destroyed our team, I will destroy YOU,” Steve said, jumping at Tony. 

Tony desperately tried to reason with Steve, but Steve was too consumed with hatred. 

They fought for nearly an hour until Steve ordered the others to retreat. Anakin deactivated his blue lightsaber and ran to Tony, who was sprawled on the ground.

“Tony, Tony! Are you alright?” He said, pulling off Tony’s mask and looking down into his bloodied face. 

Tony sat up and winced. “Yeah, I’m alright.”

Anakin hugged him and started crying. “I’m so sorry, Tony. It’s all my fault. I wasn’t strong enough to protect you. I’m so sorry.”

Rhodey ran to Tony’s side and embraced him, helping him to his feet. “Tony, I should’ve helped. Will you ever forgive me?”

The three of them hugged as Tony felt his heart breaking again. When would the Avengers stop tormenting him?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony Stark continues to struggle with severe nightmares. He ruminates over his failures over and over. It’s nearly maddening.

Tony thrashed in his sheets and opened his eyes. He was drenched in sweat and breathing heavily. Another nightmare. This time, he saw the portal again. He was falling backward in space, helpless as his oxygen ran out and he was sure he would die there, suffocated. The nuclear blast went off, but instead, horrific looking, zombified creatures clawed their way toward him, snarling and grabbing at him with their long claws.

Tony woke up screaming.

Normally, he’d find comfort in Pepper lying next to him, but she was gone. The thought made Tony cry in despair, his sobs echoing in the large, quiet room. The bedroom door slid open and Anakin walked in.

Anakin tuned on a lamp, bathing the room in a soft glow, and sat down next to Tony, gently stroking his back. “Shh, it’s okay, Tony,” Anakin said, “Do you need anything?”

“Yes, just some coffee and a plate of scrambled eggs,” Tony said. He always got a midnight snack when these things happened.

Anakin patted him on the shoulder and went into the kitchen to prepare the food. When he came back with the plate of eggs and cup of coffee, Tony was feeling better.

“What’s wrong, Tony?” Anakin asked, his eyes wide and filled with concern. “You scared me. I thought something terrible happened to you. Please, tell me what’s wrong. I can help. I want to help you so much, Tony.”

“Bad dreams,” Tony said, his hand shaking as he tried to take a sip of coffee. Anakin gently helped him tip the cup back and he took a drink and then said, “the incident at New York…as usual.”

“I’m sorry, Tony. I can’t imagine how scary that would be,” Anakin said, “I read about that on the Internet. How you went into the portal and blew up the alien ship. That must’ve been terrifying. How did you survive?”

Tony frowned. “I don’t want to talk about it,” he said quietly. “It’s in the past.”

Anakin nodded.

The door opened again and Rhodey came in with a plate of muffins, oatmeal, pancakes, yogurt, breadsticks, and pasta carbonara with shrimp and oysters. “Made you some food, Tony.” He set it down on the nightstand. It smelled delicious.

Tony tucked into the delicious meal as Anakin watched, his expression sad.

“What’s wrong, Anakin?” Rhodey asked.

“I’m just worried about Tony. He shouldn’t have to keep suffering like this. Perhaps we should talk to Nick Fury.”

Rhodey nodded. “That’s a good idea.” Rhodey adjusted the bandages on Tony’s broken nose and Tony winced.

“Will his nose be alright?” Anakin asked, his voice fearful.

“I’ve been through worse. Didn’t you read up on my little incident? Shrapnel right through the chest, inches from my heart. My old arc reactor was what kept me alive.”

Anakin’s face paled. “That must’ve hurt!” he cried.

Tony rubbed his temples. “That whole incident was a nightmare. My weapons…they caused so much destruction. I saw what they did and I changed. I redeemed myself. I came back from that dark place and wanted to make the world a better place! And now, the Avengers still treat me like an enemy. Like I never take responsibility. But, I’ve been taking responsibility so much. I agonize over it every day, regretting my actions and doing EVERYTHING in my power to fix things and make it up to people I’ve hurt. I try so hard.”

Tony broke off and Rhodey hugged him. “We know, Tony.”

“Yes, Tony. I’m sorry that the Avengers can’t see it.” Anakin said.

***

Later that night, Anakin called up Clint and asked if he could talk to him in private. Clint said sure and they met at a bar in Midtown.

“Hawkeye, I’m very worried about Tony. He doesn’t have any support.”

“Yeah, me too,” Clint said. “Look, Skywalker, I’m sorry for Cap’s behavior today. I’m sorry that we attacked Tony like that. We should’ve talked instead of fought.”

“I’m sorry, too. I didn’t mean to Force choke him. It’s just that Tony was so sad and he was being so mean. I try to control my temper, but it just..I’m just so broken. I feel like I have this darkness inside of me that’s always threatening to consume me. I don’t know what’s wrong. I just–I wish I could rid myself of the conflict. This pull of light and dark. I want to help Tony so much.”

“Me, too,” Clint said. “The Avengers have been shattered since the “civil war.” We used to be friends, but darkness crept into our hearts and tore us apart. We lost the battle. We gave in to hate and because of that, Tony was heartbroken.”

“Will we ever mend his heart?” Anakin asked, wiping away tears as he thought of Tony lying bloody and broken on the cold ground in Siberia as Steve and Bucky abandoned him there. “Will we save him?”

“We must,” Clint said. “The fate of the world, and possibly the galaxy, depends on Iron Man.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony decides to confront Steve after being mistreated. He’s tired of Team Captain America being jerks to him. Will he succeed or will Steve just hurt him even more?

“Tony!” There was a loud knock at his bedroom door just as Anakin finished tying Tony’s red and gold tie and combing his hair.

“Come in,” Tony said. 

Rhodey slid the door open and walked into the room. “Cap is here, Tony. He’s waiting in the conference room.”

“Okay,” Tony said.

He, Anakin, and Rhodey walked down to the conference room and sat in the table by Steve. Steve glared at him across the dark wood, his blue eyes burning with hatred and disgust. 

“You wanted to see me, loser?” Steve said nonchalantly. 

“Yes,” Tony said, straightening up in his chair. “Steve, I’m tired of you and the other Avengers being mean to me.”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t have endangered Peter Parker at the airport,” Steve said. “Or signed those Accords. You’re the problem with the world, Tony, not me. I’m fine the way I am.” 

“That’s not true, Cap,” Rhodey said.

“Shut up, Rhodey,” Steve said. “You’re useless.” Rhodey fell silent and looked down at the table. 

“Don’t talk to my friend like that, Rogers!” Tony said. “He’s a brave man and a good Avenger.” 

“No, he isn’t. He is a failure and a fool like you,” Steve said. “Now..DIE.” 

Steve pulled out his shield and threw it at Tony, but Tony blocked it with his fist and sent it flying back into Steve’s face. Steve roared with anger, blood spurting from his nose, and leapt across the table at Tony, grabbing at his neck. 

“Tony, no!” Anakin said. He and Rhodey stood by in terror as Steve choked Tony. 

Just then, the windows shattered into a million pieces and SHIELD agents swung into the building, night-night guns at the ready.

“Stop. You’re all under arrest,” Maria Hill said.


End file.
